Because being healthy should be fun.

Cauliflower Cakes

As I type this, Chicago is experiencing one of the hottest streaks in its recorded history.

So, I’m looking at this dish I made recently, before the oppressive heat and humidity, and remember it being good…

…but all I want right now is to shove my face in a giant vat of frozen yogurt.

And I’m not even a frozen dessert person ordinarily.

But at the time that I DID have the urge to make these, I had gotten the idea from the cauliflower pizza crust that has been making the rounds on food blogs.

I didn’t have the patience or energy to make a true crust, though (there are a bunch of steps, from what I can tell), not to mention I didn’t really need to eat an entire pizza for lunch regardless of what the crust was made of. And believe you me, that absolutely would have been the case.

So instead I threw together a more casual version of the cauliflower crust. A bit less fussy. Not so hellbent on having an actual purpose within the context of a specific dish.

1. Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil. Salt water, drop cauliflower in and boil until fork tender.
2. Drain cauliflower and return to hot pot. With a potato masher or fork mash cauliflower until it is completely mashed.
3. Add in egg, breadcrumbs, peppers, half of the cheese, cilantro, and spices and mix to combine.
4. Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and heat over a medium flame. Form cauliflower mixture into 3 patties with your hands and place in skillet, allowing room between each patty (work in batches if necessary).
5. Cook until bottom is golden brown (roughly 3-4 minutes) and carefully flip. Top with remaining cheese and cook until the second side is browned and the cheese is melted.
6. Garnish with additional cilantro and serve hot.

Ta da! It’s not pizza, but it’s topped with cheese!

Now, some of you may find this recipe to be fairly similar to these zucchini balls I posted recently.

And that’s true. Vegetable, egg, cheese, skillet…

The fact of the matter is that I’m really trying to up my vegetable intake and lower my unecessary-but-so-delicious carb intake a bit. This forces me to come up with ways to make veggies that doesn’t involve sticking them in the oven to roast…like I always do, so that I don’t get bored and flee for the nearest fry shop.